Ryan has created a little separation with the Baltimore Ravens' Joe Flacco for now, but we aren't ready to anoint him as one of the game's best. Ryan has yet to face a great defense, and his two worst games were his last two. Still, he controls the Atlanta Falcons' offense more than ever and mostly makes good decisions.

Romo is playing so much better for the Dallas Cowboys than conventional wisdom suggests. Apart from the second half against the Chicago Bears, Romo has played at a high level.

Flacco has been better this year for the Ravens, but he's still too prone to stinkbombs, like the ones against the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans. Cutler probably is playing at a lower level than a season ago for the Bears, but it hasn't shown up because of weak opponents. He should get better.

Schaub does everything he's asked to do, and he does it well for the Texans. I'm not sure how he'd do outside of Houston's system, but that's not really the point. Newton actually played a solid game against Dallas, but that got lost in the post-game noise. He has been uneven this season, just not nearly as bad as the stories around him suggest. The Carolina Panthers could help him by developing some sort of drop-back passing (or running) game. As the longtime San Diego Chargers quarterback, Rivers needs to show he can perform against quality competition.

I might feel silly putting the rookies ahead of this group by the end of the season. It's really tough call. Yes, these are first-world, football writer problems.

In most years, we'd be talking about the Miami Dolphins' Tannehill as one of the most promising rookie quarterbacks to come out in a long time. He's ahead of where Ryan and Flacco were at this stage of their rookie seasons and shows all the attributes you'd want in a franchise quarterback. Alex Smith fits what the San Francisco 49ers do. His progress has been incremental this year, but it exists.

Josh Freeman is one of the hardest quarterbacks to evaluate. Even in a 400-yard game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he misses a lot of throws. At least he's better than last year.

Sanchez shows you just enough each week to think he has a chance. Then you remember he has done that for four years with no noticeable progress for the New York Jets.

Teams beg the Minnesota Vikings to throw, and Ponder still runs the least explosive unit in the league. Hasselbeck is the perfect Tennessee Titans backup, and Wilson is showing improvement, but the Seattle Seahawks still are limited in the passing game. He's a large part of that.

The rest of this season in Jacksonville is about Gabbert's development. He has been a disappointment this year so far.

Skelton might be the least-accurate quarterback in the NFL. When he misses, there isn't an Arizona Cardinals receiver who can bail him out. The Chiefs might be Brady Quinn's last chance to prove he can start in the NFL. Going back to his Cleveland days, he has shown a propensity for playing too safe.